I'd rather be having a quiet drink... and can be followed on Twitter @alcothusiast; and friended on Untappd (handle: "neilcake" - all welcome).

Wednesday, 21 December 2016

How much is a bottle of beer?

Beer
has become a little more important to me over the last couple of
years and now things are getting out of control. It used to be (back
in my formative days of drinking) that a pint in a pub was under £2
– yes, you could get 5 pints for under a tenner. Imagine how many
nights out I could have on my salary. You could also get 4 cans of
cheap lager for £2.

Then
things started to change, and I’m not talking about inflation or
devaluation or increases in VAT or anything like that. I’m talking
about how beer suddenly became… hell, aspirational. I trace it back
to when Stella wasn’t the most [reassuringly] expensive beer
anymore. All these other premium continental lagers entered the
market – Peronis and Staropramens. Then Hoegarden came and it was
followed by a shitstorm of expensive Belgian beers.

I
first noticed the extremes when people like Brewdog started making
beers that were 40% alcohol – just for the sake of it. At the time
of writing they are selling 3 litre bottles of Double Bastard
(11.2%) for £85. Then Manchester’s Port Street Beer House
introduced the city to the beer menu (others may have actually done
it first), and on it were beers that cost £70 – for just one beer.

Finally
I was introduced to two breweries that would become my favourite –
Derbyshire’s Thornbridge and Manchester’s Cloudwater,
and I started to try and get hold of any beer they made –
culminating (or so I thought) in spending nearly £13 on Cloudwater’s
Ardbeg Imperial Stout.

Needless
to say, it didn’t stop there and it hasn’t stopped yet. I now
need my favourite breweries to stop making these expensive beers, so
that I don’t feel obliged to buy them. This week’s post actually
started by being about Thornbridge’s recent collaboration with
Brooklyn Brewery; Serpent. It’s a 750ml bottle, it’s 9.5%
and I paid £15 for it, direct from the brewery thanks to a free
delivery offer they had on (I actually saw it a few weeks later in
our local bottle shop at £14.95, 5p cheaper than direct).

How
special could this be? Well, I figured I’d wait for a summer
afternoon with a cigar to find out. It’s a Belgian-inspired golden
ale that has been aged for over a year with the lees that are used to
ferment Oliver’s Cider apples.

Before
that summer afternoon arrived, I was out shopping for another recent
Thornbridge release,Lukas, and while searching I came across
something even more exciting; Love Among The Ruins. This one
is a 7% sour red ale that has been aged in Burgundy barrels, with
cherries, for over a year. It’s only a 375ml bottle… but I paid
£10.80 for it. That makes it more expensive by volume than the
Serpent.

When
I returned to Mrs Cake, who had been waiting in the car, she said,
“we could’ve bought little Sylvie a new pair of shoes for that”.
Which made me feel great.

So
how did these beers do?

Serpent

I
didn’t manage to save my cigar for the opening of this one. I had
promised I would share it with Mrs Cake, then she went out one
evening, so I decided to have the cigar and save the beer for when
she was around.

Thornbridge
have thoughtfully sealed this beer (and indeed Love Among the
Ruins) with a cork so that you get a special opening experience.
And it’s very tasty. I likened it to a white wine, with the apple
flavour (that I didn’t know whether to expect from the lees or not)
appearing in the sort of proportion that you might get from a white
wine. It was crisp and elegant.

As
you’d expect from a 9.5% beer (stronger than Special Brew),
you get a nice buzz from this. One bottle, by rights, ought to last
you an evening. I couldn’t really imagine drinking one of these all
by myself. Belligerance would be right around the corner, I think.
Fifteen quid does seem a lot for a single beer, but I would argue
that you probably are getting fiteen quid’s worth of booze. 4.5/5

Love
Among the Ruins

Sour
beer isn’t really my thing, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t
enjoyed one or two examples of this phenomenon in the past –
Thornbridge’s Tart was one that I previously awarded 4 stars
to. This one is probably a little bit better than that, though I
didn’t see fit to award it any more stars at the time. It certainly
isn’t too sour for me, but Mrs Cake recoiled in horror at it’s
tanginess. 4/5.

Conclusion

I
think I’m going to have to be a bit more careful about buying beers
that exceed £10 in future. Not that I regret getting these, it’s
just that there seem to be so many of them. I don’t really want to
encourage breweries in this kind of thing, even though I appreciate
the effort they are going to in making new and special beers, and
indeed the increased production costs it entails. Is it wise or
sustainable? It sure is coming at an interesting time… but, I
suppose, it means I must be able to afford it. It’ll be time to
worry when I need it but can’t afford it anymore. But then there’s
always supermarket own brand premium lager – as you’ll discover
in a later post.

Definitions

What happens when you zone out after having had a cheeky lunchtime pint.

Alcothusiast:

Not an alcoholic, someone who appreciates booze.

Anxiety, The:

The uneasy feeling that accompanies any noteworthy hangover.

Booze Buffet Mentality:

The propensity people have to go nuts whenever there's a free bar.

Booze Porn:Photos of alcohol.

Bread Chest:Not booze related, but this term describes the indigestion you get from eating too many bread products too quickly. Just putting it out there...

Crawler's Block:The inability to decide where to go next during a pub crawl - often resulting in crawl stagnation and someone saying, "shall we just have another one here?"

Crawl Stagnation:The result of failing to plan a pub crawl sufficiently - lack of a route, theme or over-familiarity with nearby pubs can all be contributing factors.

Excess Induced Alcohol Aversion:An intolerance for a drink caused (usually) by one occasion of overindulgence.

The Family:My whisky collection.

MOMA:

Moment of Maximum Appreciation. Every bottle has one. It's the time you drink it where you enjoy it most.

Old Man Pub:Traditional British pub, renowned for being quiet, cosy and frequented by old men. Much favoured by people who like a nice chat while they drink.Psychological Drinks Cabinet:Collective term relating to the kinds of alcoholic drinks a person has need for.Road Beers:

Cans of beer that you take with you when you go out, to consume on the way.

The 3 Types of Rum:White, gold and dark. Together they form the base of many a great cocktail.

About Me

Neil Cake is interested in all types of booze, but is by no means an authority or expert. Most of the time he's just trying to be funny, but he is learning, and enjoys sharing his adventures and what he learns on the Drink it How You Like it blog.
Thengyuverrymuuuuuch.